I recently went back to one of my old haunts at Indian Rocks Beach, The Gulf Towers, 404 Gulf Boulevard.
This place used to be fairly decent in terms of clean and inexpensive. The cost has gone up and the place has gotten shabby. Nice folks, but no ice machine, dirty halls and carpeting, terrible shower heads, cheap furniture, etc. Too bad really, it used to be a hidden gem, right on a decent beach.
Then came dinner, up the road at a decent Italian place known as Villa Gallace. They have excellent food and service, but pricey! Oh, and when I came out of the restaurant, the local cops had ticketed my car. Nice! I was about 6 feet off the road in the grass as the small parking lot had been overflowing when I arrived.
It seems most of the old hotels there have gone condo and the restaurants like Salt Rock and Villa Gallace are there only to gouge the tourists. I won't go back to Indian Rocks Beach, needless to say.